Rare Bird

Robert S. Ridgely was hiking down an Ecuadorean mountain path last November when he and a fellow ornithologist heard a strange sound - a call akin to an owl’s hoot and a dog’s bark. “He and I recognized right off the bat that this was something very peculiar that we heard in the distance,” recalled Ridgely. Once he saw the large bird with the unusual white facial markings, he knew right away that it was “one of the most distinctive new birds to be found in a while.” The academy has determined it is a new species of Antpitta, a group of very reclusive long-legged, non-migratory birds that hop on the forest floor, feeding on large insects.